This roast turkey is simple to make and full of savory flavors including butter, garlic, herbs and lemon. A must-have Thanksgiving turkey recipe that even a novice cook can make with minimal effort!
Be a rock star this year on Thanksgiving by presenting your family and friends with this juicy, golden brown roast turkey. Serve it alongside sour cream mashed potatoes, pomegranate brussels sprouts, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows and honey roasted carrots for a complete meal that will earn you rave reviews.
It’s almost time for Thanksgiving, and for me, cooking turkey can be a source of stress. I want my turkey to be golden brown, juicy and perfectly cooked, and that’s a lot of pressure when you’re juggling a bunch of other side dish recipes, desserts and appetizers at the same time! This roast turkey is a super simple way to do a Thanksgiving turkey and it always comes out perfectly for me.
Table of Contents
Roast Turkey Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need a turkey, lemon, onion, rosemary, garlic, butter, salt, black pepper, and chicken broth or turkey broth.
How Do You Make A Roast Turkey?
The first step is to season your turkey. In this case, we’re stuffing the inside cavity of the turkey with aromatics like onion, herbs and lemon. Be sure to fold the wings of the turkey under the body. Place butter, salt and pepper in a small bowl and mix until well combined. Spread the butter mixture all over the turkey, including under the skin, then add more salt and pepper to taste on the exterior of the turkey. Tie the drumsticks together, then place the turkey on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Bake at a higher temperature until the turkey starts to brown, then lower the oven temperature. Roast the turkey, basting it every 30 minutes with broth, until it is cooked through. Let the turkey rest, then carve and serve along with pan juices or use the drippings to make turkey gravy.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- You do not have to brine a turkey to get a juicy and flavorful bird. That being said, a brine does help prevent a turkey from drying out by adding moisture, and it also adds a lot of flavor in the process. If you’d like to brine your bird before proceeding with this roast turkey, you can use my favorite turkey brine recipe. More questions about brining? Check out my complete guide on how to brine a turkey!
- It’s very important to use a meat thermometer to ensure that your turkey is cooked to the proper temperature. This also helps to prevent your bird from drying out in the oven, since you won’t accidentally overcook it.
- Pat the turkey dry with paper towels before you apply the butter for the crispiest skin.
- I buy a fresh turkey whenever possible, but I know sometimes that isn’t always economical or practical. If you have a frozen turkey, the best way to thaw it is in the refrigerator, but you do need to plan in advance. Typically you’ll need to thaw in the fridge for one day per 4 pounds of turkey. I had a 12 pound turkey and it took a full 3 days for it to thaw.
Quick Tip
To prepare a turkey for roasting you’ll need to do the following steps:
- remove the neck from the turkey cavity
- tie the legs together with oven safe kitchen twine (do this after you’ve stuffed the cavity!)
- fold the ends of the turkey wings under your bird
- remove the bag of giblets
Recipe FAQs
The general rule of thumb is that a turkey needs to cook at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes per pound. In this case, we’re starting at a much higher temperature then turning the oven down to 350 degrees, so your turkey should cook a little faster with this method.
I start my turkey at 450 degrees F to ensure that the finished turkey will have golden brown, crispy skin. After 30-40 minutes, the skin will have started to brown, and at that point you can turn the temperature down to 350 degrees F.
A turkey is ready when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F. The internal temperature of the turkey is more important than the overall suggested bake time.
You’ll want to plan on one pound of turkey per person. If you’d like to have a lot of turkey leftovers for sandwiches the next day, you should plan on 1 1/2 pounds per person.
I like to baste my roast turkey with a little chicken or turkey broth because I think it helps to ensure that the turkey doesn’t dry out. If you’ve decided to brine your bird, you can skip the basting step in the recipe.
FOLLOW ME
How To use Turkey Leftovers
Got leftover turkey? That’s a very common occurrence and I find that sometimes the leftovers taste even better the second day. I’ve compiled a list of Leftover Turkey Recipes so that you have plenty of ways to repurpose your bird.
Flavor Variations
While this recipe is delicious as-is, you can easily customize the flavors to your taste.
- Stuffing: Fill your bird’s cavity with other ingredients such as celery, orange, shallots, thyme, sage or parsley.
- Flavorings: You can add other seasonings to the butter such as Italian seasoning, Cajun seasoning, Creole seasoning or turkey rub.
- Protein: This recipe will also work with a whole turkey breast or whole chicken. You will just need to adjust the cooking time accordingly, or use a thermometer to skip the guesswork!
Everyone will be so impressed when you serve up this beautiful and delicious roast turkey on Thanksgiving Day!
More Thanksgiving Recipes
Roast Turkey Video
Love This Recipe?
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Roast Turkey for Thanksgiving
Ingredients
- 12 lb turkey giblets and neck removed
- 1 lemon quartered
- 1 onion peeled and quartered
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 5 cloves garlic smashed
- 8 tablespoons butter softened
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
- fresh herbs and fruit for garnish optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Fold the wings of the turkey under the body.
- Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the lemon, onion, rosemary and garlic.
- Place the butter, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir until combined.
- Spread the butter all over the turkey, both on top of and underneath the skin. Season the turkey with more salt and pepper to taste if desired.
- Tie the turkey drumsticks together, Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan.
- Cook for 30-40 minutes or until turkey has started to turn golden brown.
- Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. Baste the turkey with 1/2 cup chicken broth.
- Bake for another 2 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the chicken broth, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F. If your turkey is getting too dark, you can cover it with foil.
- Transfer the turkey to a serving platter and garnish with herbs and fruit if desired. Let the turkey rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- You do not have to brine a turkey to get a juicy and flavorful bird. That being said, a brine does help prevent a turkey from drying out and it adds a lot of flavor in the process. If you’d like to brine your bird before proceeding with this roast turkey, you can use my favorite turkey brine recipe.
- It’s very important to use a meat thermometer to ensure that your turkey is cooked to the proper temperature. This also helps to prevent your bird from drying out in the oven, since you won’t accidentally overcook it.
I have a 20 pound unstuffed turkey for Saturday. Every other recipe I’ve seen calls for 5 hours. Will the 3 hours be enough with a higher starting temperature?
This recipe calls for a 12 pound turkey, so 3 hours definitely will not be enough time. Your best bet is to use a probe thermometer so you can monitor the temperature as it cooks, and take it out right when it’s ready, this prevents the turkey from getting dry!
I have been using this turkey recipe and brine for YEARS. We have a massive family gathering every year (we are very blessed) and we wind up with 2-3 whole turkeys to feed everyone. This is the most delightful and flavorful recipe out there. We grill one, smoke one, and one goes in a giant turkey roaster and they all come out absolutely incredible. Thank you for sharing these with the world.
Hello Sara
I made your turkey recipe yesterday that was best I ever made in Thirty years my family went crazy
Twenty pound a was all gone
Thank you for wonderful recipe
Do you use unsalted butter to put all over the turkey if I used your brine recipe? I don’t want to make it too salty.
Yes unsalted is fine!
Can you use salted too even if brined before hand?
I’d cut the amount of salt in half if it’s brined.
Hi! Thanks for the recipe and instructions. I didn’t see any mention of foil. Do you cover the turkey during any/all of the baking steps?
I only cover the turkey with foil if I feel like it’s getting too brown before the inside is cooked through!
Hi! I am excited to do my very first turkey this year! I am going to brine it using your brine recipe. I am very excited. Should I stuff the cavity with the remnants of the brine? Should the turkey roast in the brine?
You will want to remove the turkey from the brine before you cook it, do not cook the turkey in the brine or stuff the cavity with the brine remnants or it could end up too salty! You can stuff the turkey with fresh items such as sprigs of herbs, lemons, onion, etc. Hope this helps!
What are your thoughts on using an orange to stuff inside the turkey cavity? I used my two lemons for the brine recipe. I’m really trying to avoid a visit to the grocery store on Thanksgiving Eve.
Thank you!
That’s totally fine!
Thank you!! So excited to try your brine and roast recipes this Thanksgiving. : )
I know this question has been asked but I just wanted to know if I brine the turkey is it ok to still baste the turkey with the chicken stock. Just want like my turkey extra juice ya do moist.
You can just make sure you use low sodium broth!
Today is 11/23/19 cooking 2 = 28 l bs fresh turkeys for a family of 60. The brine is mixed and cooling and the babies will be bathing until tomorrow at 6 am. Going to cook the neck and giblets today and store until tomorrow to make the gravy. 40 lbs of potatoes peeled and in frig until tomorrow. Wish me luck as my husband’s siblings take turns in preparing thanksgiving and you guessed it…its our turn this year. I feel comfortable cooking the turkeys….my worry is making a tasty gravy for the mashers. I’ll let you know how all turns out.
Wow that is amazing!! Good luck to you! I do have a turkey gravy recipe here that’s fabulous! https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/turkey-gravy-recipe/
I received a free turkey from a friend that was already injected with salt… I followed your brine recipe but cut the salt in half to try and avoid an overly salty bird. Do you recommend that I still add salt to the butter before cooking the turkey?
This is my first bird I’ve ever cooked and brined so I’m really hoping it turns out okay for my friendsgiving tonight!
I would not add any salt!
I love your recipes and I want to use this one for the turkey I make this year for Thanksgiving. I plan to brine my turkey. Does that mean I don’t baste with chicken broth at all throughout the cooking process or just initially? Thanks!
You don’t need to use chicken broth at all if you brine your turkey. If you want to baste with any pan drippings you can, but the brine will prevent it from getting dry so you really don’t need to!
Classic perfectly seasoned turkey! Thanks for the recipe!
Fantastic recipe, Sara. made this last week for my family get together. was awesome 😀 -Joe